Variable-speed-transmission mechanism



J. F. DEFORDT VARIABLE SPEEDYTRANSMISSION MECHANISM Oct. 13, 1925.

Original Filed march 21. 1921 A) an Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

J'ULES 'mnnsmoinnronnr, F BRUssn -s; BELGIUMI",

VARIABLE-SPEED: TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

ApplicationfiledMafrch 213 1921, Serial Nbi 4543-189. i Renewed.:J'ulydB; 19215.1

To all whom :z't may concern .1

Beisitvlm'own that 1,1 J oLns FREDERIG -Dn+ som a subject of i the JKing of Belgium, andnresident 0f *Ixel'lesy Brussels; Belgium; have'invented certaim new and iusefuli iI1nrovements rin'Variable:-Speed+Transmission Mechanism; i ot Which the? following eis maspecification:

This invention relates to? improvements in variable speed transmissionmechanism: and? hasion itscobject to: rovide-i-a means where by. thepower on :a s aft driven 'ati'constanti speed i can 1 be transmitted "atany n desinedi speed to al drivenshaft and funtherlto pro-J vide :means:for reversal 50 f: the 1 direction f running and :for direct {driving-bfrom: the r driving-to thedriven shaft atWilL:

The invention: consists;- of a variable speed: transmission mechanismcomp-rising a shatt adapted to 1 bel'driven at: constantspeed, 3 asecondary'zshaftfiada )ted to bewdriveir directly fronrth-e 611 112111shaft and carrying one-orwlnorevvariable stroke eccentrics, ,a f hollowshaft L-revolubly 'izinounted upon atllB; driving'shaftwandadapted to bedriven -:independently 1 of 1 such 'dniving shaft by thev, oneiormorewariable stroke eccentrics and a 1 a will now a be described by raidoi panying drawings-1 in 1 whichlz-- 1 In order ztliattheinventionimaybe cleanly .v understood one example ot itsuapplicationnthewaccom l Fig.; 1 is, a diagrammatic) gencnnlw'view of:

F fg.pv2is aside elevation ofithe same;

The L- mechanismi i llu trat tlz i111 ;the 1 dr w ings; comprises; adriving, gshaf l whi'ch vis, a drivenratirconstaint PBBd L Q X I x mpleasiby the engine 10f. aisel flpropelledfivehicle 1 v on -from',-;anyother 1 converiient-Qsouroe: of 1 power, Thisshaft 1 3 drives;-a;sec0ndary-- shafl 2 .at reduced speed t-hroughhtoothed Whee1s -3-andi4: and a chain 5 or equivalent, 1 means. Mounted. upon; this shaft 2 soastor be driven thereby are ia gpluralityt of' vari-i able}stroke.-,-eccentrics,6 which in :turn vime part rotation to: a-hollowshaft ,7 mounted. upon the LdriVin-g shaft 1 bygmeans: ofa-correspondingmumber of -free Wheehclutches 8;,

thewspeedi-yof such ho llo woshaft .being this capable of progressivevariationy from a minimum to-a maximum. The throw ot the,- eccentricssheavesmay be imparte'daeither directlynto the freewheelclutches: fromthe straps by ;;means ,gof single connecting rods corresponding numberoffree Wheel-clutches 0r.,;.as apreiferred by mewns ofthe actuating:

and a driven, shaft adapted to be alternately connected;qldineetly Witheither the driving shaiit omthe-gsaid; hollow shaftiby-means ofw asuitable (clutch;

Aireversal jof directionaot rotation; of the driven; shaft may the 1provided for! by l the j inclusion ,in; the; mechanism 1 of a sliding 1pin ion which (118; driven in ;any;;suitable manner 1' from the holloshaft and :for the 1 urpose a of reversah is -moved into mesh witha-fur-wtlier toothed Wheel or memberengaging the driven; shaft; i

Furthermore a free-Wheel clutch connecti on;;may (be; prov-ided:(betweeni the.- driving sha-fii 1 and;,;the Ehollow shaft -.to1 prevent thedriven shaft afrom over-running the; driving shafit- This free-Wheel;clutch? is sov-anranged E asgto permit relative movement 1 betweengthedriving shafteand thechollowsshaft inaone direction -only ith at ais, I:in the: r direction, of F normal flotation- By this means-thedriving ,5shattqacts as a 111 211031011 theihollow ,shafitgand prevents the, speedof such hol'lo-vv shattm from v i exceeding the speed :1 of; thedriving; shaft; Such a :device isivery nsefiul :in vmotor andz-otherselfgpropelledi vehicles as :it spr e; -6 ventsythe vehiclei fromgetting out of controltvvhen; i rirnninggddW-nehill.

shoW11 nane ltmlcp $iti mechanism comprising l rookingq, army 9 Which-isn ountedxat one endiuponaa fixed; pivot 10,- the -;0then;end ,11 ibeingconnected i tothe outerw casing of their-respective ,free Wheel clutchiby means ofia link lZ The throw of the (eccentric 1, sheave isimpartedto i the centre Ofltllfl rocking arm 19 :as 1 at 13;by, means; ;ofiaarigidlug, :14 on the, eccentric! strap, 1 The-.idnivenvshatt; 15 i isalternately connects ed to the\driving sha-ttl and hollow-shafts? by.,means of a clutch device of vany suitablezcharacter one such;(beinggillustrated-i line the drawings-and (comprising sleeve 16. which;is slidably keyed, ;as at 17 to the I inner end of the driven; shaft: 15and\ moved thereonby means of an ,operating iork ion equivalent jvdevioetot xcoi ventionala .form I: (notv shown) This sleeve :16: isylfOlHlBQL-Wlfill tan-interior ire: cessklSnto, accommodate the L innerendeofi the Q driving shsaftil rand:theI cornesponding endi-J of the:hollote shaft 7 'eav hio f iwhicliindiare'i; formed, with s'dogs orteeth' 2 19. andgil9t re--; '1 spectively g WhichlfQ in erngaggg aleimitelyp with corresponding teeth-.201iftirmedwvithin} thegsopengendot. ithe recesse18, ,ofnthe sai sleeve116;.v Inlthedrawings thergclutch20 of the sleeve 16 are engaged with the teeth 19 on the inner endof-the hollow shaft 7 the driven shaft 15 receives its motion from thehollow shaft7. To obtain direct drive the sleeve 16 is moved towards theleft in Fig. 1 so as to bring the teeth 20 into engagement with theteeth 19 on the inner end of the driving shaft 1. In this position thedriven shaft 15 is directly connected tothe driving shaft 1 whilst thehollow shaft 7 runs free.

The reversing gear shown comprises a toothed pinion 21 which is slidablykeyed to a shaft 22. This latter shaft is driven from the hollow shaft 7by means of pinions 23 and chain 24;. To effect reversal of the motionof the driven shaft 15 the sleeve 16 is moved to the neutral positionthat is to the position where its teeth 20 are out of engagement withboth the teeth 19 and 19*. The pinion 21 is then moved along its shaft22 by means of a forked lever, not shown, or other suitable actuatingmeans, until it meshes with corresponding teeth 25 cut around theperiphery of a flange 26 on the sleeve 16. The driven shaft 15 thusreceives rotational movement, in a reverse direction, from the hollowshaft 7. v v

Any suitable form of free-wheel clutch may be used but I prefer toemploy a freewheel clutch comprising inner and outer members the latterbeing rocked over the periphery of the inner member by theaforementioned actuating mechanism. This movement in turn is imparted,in the form of a continuous rotary motion, to the inner member by meansof spring controlled laterally disposed rollerswhich were forced singlyinto engagement with one of a series of semi-circular recesses in theperiphery of the inner member at each operative stroke of the outermember. The recesses in the inner memberexceed innumber the rollerscarried by the outer member by a predetermined amount so that when'oneroller'is in a fully engaged position with a recess the other rollersare in various positions be tween complete engagement and completedisengagement with corresponding recesses,

The strokes of the eccentrics 6 may be varied 1n any convenient mannerone suitable means for the purpose being illustrated.

in the drawings and consists'in forming each of the eccentric sheaveswith an elongated slot 27. each of which slots is'adapted to receive theshaped portion 28 of the'secondary shaft 2. These slots are so, disposedthat at one .limit of movement of the sheave such sheave resides co-incident with the axis of the shaft 2 so that the periphery of thesheave is concentric with suchshaft and con.- sequently no movement isimparted to its strap Means arefhowever, provided for progressivelyyaryingthe eccentricity of,

each" of E the sheaves "such means comprising a screw 29 which is pinnedat each end as at 30 to the eccentric sheave. This screw is engaged by anut 31 having worm wheel teeth out around its peripherywith whichengages a worm shaft 32.

This worm shaftextends through the center of the shaft 2 and isindependently rotatable by suitable means not shown.

To vary the eccentricity of the eccentric sheaves the worm shaft 32 isrotated. This causes the nuts 31 to rotate and to consequently impart anaxial movement to their screws 29thus moving the eccentric sheaveslaterally on the shaped portions of the shaft 2. By this means thethrowof the eccentricsheaves may be gradually varied from a minimum to amaximum with a consequent gradual variation in the speed of the hollowshaft 7.

When using the above described trans-1 mission gear under circumstanceswhere there is a possibility of the driven shaft 15 overrunning thedriving shaft 1 such for example as in self-propelled vehicles, it ispreferred to employ means for preventing such overrunning. One suchmeans is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings and consists of a freewheel clutch device'comprising two elements 33 and 341 adapted tooperatively engage each other when relatively rotatedin one directionand to run independently of each other when relatively rotated in theopposite direction. In applying this clutch to the mechanism accordingto this invention the element 33 is keyed upon the shaft 1 so as torotate therewith and the'element 34 is similarly keyed to the adjacentend of the hollow shaft 7. The

means of operatively connecting these two elements together may consistof pawls and ratchet teeth or equivalent means 35 the onlyessentialbeing that the shaft 1 is allowed to run free when its speedexceeds that of the shaft 7 but that when the speed of the shaft 7commences to overrun the shaft 1 such pawls and ratchets-or other meanswill engage with each other thus utilizing the shaft 1 as a brake forthe shaft 7.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A variablespeed gear comprising a shaft to be driven at constant speed, asecondary shaft, means constituting a direct driving 'connection'betweensaid constant speed shaft and said secondary shaft, variable strokeeccentrics mounted upon and driven by said secondary shaft, means forvarying the eccentricity of said eccentrics from zero to a maximum, ahollow shaft mounted concentrically upon said constant speed shaft andrevoluble independently thereof, free wheel clutches mounted upon anddriving said hollow shaft, means constituting a driving connectionbetween said variable stroke eccentrics and said free wheel clutches andadapted to increase the throw of said eccentrics, a driven shaft, meansfor connecting said driven shaft alternatively with said constant speedshaft and said hollow shaft, and means for reversing the direction ofrotation of said driven shaft.

2. A variable speed gear comprising a shaft to be driven at constantspeed, a secondary shaft, means constituting a direct driving connectionbetween said secondary shaft and said constant speed shaft, variablestroke eccentrics mounted upon and driven by said secondary shaft, ahollow shaft mounted concentrically upon said constant speed shaft andrevolvable independently thereof, means connecting said hollow shaft tosaid constant speed shaft so as to prevent the speed of said hollowshaft from exceeding the speed of the constant speed shaft, free wheelclutches mounted upon and driving said hollow shaft, means constitutinga driving connection between said variable stroke eccentrics and saidfree wheel clutches and adapted to increase the throw of saideccentrics, a driven shaft and means for connecting said driven shaftalternatively with said constant speed shaft and said hollow shaft.

3. A variable speed gear comprising a shaft to be driven at constantspeed, a secondary shaft, means constituting a direct driving connectionbetween said constant speed shaft and said secondary shaft, variablestroke eccentrics mounted upon and driven by said secondary shaft, meansfor varying the eccentricity of said eccentrics from zero to a maximum,a hollow shaft mounted concentrically upon said constant speed shaft andrevoluble independently thereof, means connecting said hollow shaft tosaid constant speed shaft so as to prevent the speed of said hollowshaft from exceeding the speed of the constant speed shaft, free wheelclutches mounted upon and driving said hollow shaft, means constitutinga driving connection between said variable stroke eccentrics and saidfree wheel clutches and adapted to increase the throw of saideccentrics, a driven shaft and means for connecting said driven shaftalternatively with said constant speed shaft and said hollow shaft.

i. A variable speed gear comprising a shaft to be driven at constantspeed, a secondary shaft, means constituting a direct driving connectionbetween said constant speed shaft and said secondary shaft, variablestroke eccentrics mounted upon and driven by said secondary shaft, meansfor varying the eccentricity of said eccentrics from zero to a maximum,a hollow shaft mounted concentrically upon said constant speed shaft andrevolubleindependently thereof, means connecting said hollow shaft tosaid constant speed shaft so as to prevent the speed of said hollowshaft from exceeding the speed of the constant speed shaft, free wheelclutches mounted upon and driving said hollow shaft, means constitutinga driving connection between said variable stroke eccentrics and saidfree wheel clutches and adapted to increase the throw of saideccentrics, a driven shaft and means for connecting said driven shaftalternatively with said constant speed shaft and said hollow shaft,means for reversing the direction of rotation of said driven shaft.

In witness whereof I affix my signature.

J ULES FREDERIG DEFORDT.

